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Transcript of The Mandate System of the Middle East

Thesis Sykes-Picot Agreement The Mandate System The Mandate System in the Middle East: A HistoryBy:Janna Paramore Although the Mandate System of the Middle East put in place by the League of Nations was intended to aid regions in finding their independence after the Ottoman Empire's untimely collapse, it only resulted in further complicating the dynamics of this region by reaffirming Western superiority over the people of the Middle East, spurring Arab hostility and mistrust towards the West, and allowing religious differences in the region to grow to astronomical heights. Who? The League of Nations devised the Mandate System. What? A system of mandates that could easily prepare the territories of the former Central Powers during WWI for independent self government. Where? Why? How? The League of Nations officially established the Mandate System in Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. Divided into three classes:Class A: Territories that would be ready to obtain independence and self government in a short period of time. Included all Middle Eastern territories like Palestine, Israel and JordanClass B: Territories where Independence and self government was a possible yet distant idea. Included all African territories like the Cameroons, Togoland and Ruanda-Urundi,Class C: Territories where no prospects of independence and self government were imagined. Included areas such as South West Africa, New Guinea, Nauru and Western Samoa The victorious Triple Entente nations, mainly Britain and France, administered territories in the Middle East. The Mandate of Palestine An Overview An agreement that partitioned lands previously belonging to the Ottoman Empire and defined the proposed spheres of influence Britain and France wanted after WWIGave control of Syria and Northern Syria, Lebanon, Mesopotamia and Turkish Cilicia to the FrenchGave control of Palestine, Jordan and Jordan Valley, Arabia and areas around the Persian Gulf and Baghdad to the BritishGave control of Turkish Armenia and northern Kurdistan to Russia These territories were not owned by either country but they had control over them at the governmental and administrative levelJerusalem would be governed by and international administration The Aftermath After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Russia became a communist state lead by Vladmir LeninLenin found copies of the agreement in the Russian Archives including the clauses about Russia gaining control of landObviously Russia did not have the land the were supposed to gain, so the Russians released copies of the agreement to the global publicArabs found out about the agreement which directly conflicted with Lawrence of Arabia's, a British military officer, statements assuring Arabs they would gain the right to rule their own land When Arab people found out about the agreement , they began to mistrust the British and French governments The Map Map of Mandate System http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/sykes_picot_agreement.htm

www.wikipedia.com McMahon Agreement of 1915 A promise by the British that after WWI land previously held by the Turks, specifically Palestine, would be returned to Arab nationals living in the area. Triple Entente wanted to create third front to weaken the Central Powers, so they encouraged Arabs in Ottoman Empire to rise against Turk leadersSir Henry McMahon who acted on behalf of the British government met with Sherif Hussein of Mecca and made promises to ArabsHussein said McMahon gave clear indication Palestine would be given to the Palestinians when WWI endedBritish government said a map drawn at the time of the negotiations excluded Palestine from land to give back to the Arabs McMahon said land that "cannot be said to be purely Arab" was not to be given back to ArabsSince many religious groups had been allowed to exist in Jerusalem when Palestinians ruled it, the British thought this area "cannot be said to be purely Arab" but Palestinians and Hussein thought it was Balfour Declaration of 1917 Conflict arose because Arabs thought the British had promised them Palestine with the McMahon Agreement and Jews thought the British had promised them Palestine as a homeland with the Balfour Declaration. Both the Jews and the Arabs could NOT have Palestine. An Overview of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict The League of Nations devised the Mandate System with the benevolent purpose of preparing these regions, which had previously belonged to the Ottoman Empire, for successful self-government and independence. However, it is commonly accepted that the Triple Entente had an ulterior motive in establishing the mandates such as expanding their own empires and gaining the spoils from the conquered lands such as oil which would aid their economies rather than the territories. The mandates allowed the widest possible latitude in execution of individual mandates: "The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic conditions and other similar circumstances."Meaning the terms of each mandate were created on a country by country basis by the occupying country, either Britain or France.This clause of Article 22 in League Covenants formed basis of the Mandate for Palestine of 1922. A promise made by the British offering their support for the establishment of a Jewish state in the Middle East, specifically in the area of Palestine. Lord Balfour wrote to the Rothschild's, a wealthy influential Jewish family declaring his support for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine He said there must be safeguards for the "rights of non-Jewish communities in Palestine"The Jewish communities of Great Britain and their allied countries took this as support for the creation of a Jewish homeland in the Middle East After WWI many Jews believing the Balfour Declaration immigrated to Palestine When? The Mandate System was created when the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919. However, the precursor to the Mandate System was the Sykes-Picot Agreement created between Britain and France with Russian knowledge between 1915 and 1916. How the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Began The Problem Completeing the Puzzle The Timeline 1915-McMahon Agreement1916-Sykes-Picot Agreement1917-Balfour Declaration1917-Russians expose Sykes-Picot Agreement1919-League of Nations passes Mandate System1920-Sanremo Conference allocates territories of former Ottoman Empire1922-Churchill White Paper 1922-Mandate for Palestine1939-MacDonald White Paper1946-League of Nations dissolves1948-Creation of Israel Big Idea #1 The British promised Palestine to both the Arabs and the Jews, but instead mandated it to be a British occupation zone with neither group gaining full rights.It turns out they promised the land to both groups after they created a secret agreement with France to partition it between the two allies. This revelation made both the Arabs and the Jews believe Britain never had any intention to give either group Palestine. When the British did create a Jewish state in Palestine in 1922, the Arabs, who saw the British siding with the Jews, were further infuriated. Arabs began to greatly mistrust the West. A Primary Source Article 22 of the League of Nations Covenant http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/leagcov.asp#art22 Big Idea #2 The Jews of Israel and the Arabs of Palestine hate each other. The British promised Palestine to both the Arabs and the Jews, but the Jews ultimately got it. Both groups saw Palestine as their land which caused conflicts, especially after the Jews did receive the land from the British while the Arabs who had also been promised land received nothing. The Arabs resented the Jews for receiving what they saw as theirs and, often fueled by religious fervor as Islam and Judaism clashed, began a conflict with them that has continued until today with no clear end in sight. The Problem Jews thought they were entitled to the land of Palestine as their homeland because of the Balfour Declaration of 1917. So, many Jews from Britian and other areas in Western Europe began to immigrate to Palestine. The Arabs, who also believed Palestine was theirs, did not take kindly to the Jews immigrating to "their" land. The Solution Following the hostilties between the Jews and Arabs, the British decided to finally uphold their promise from the Balfour Declaration and create a national homeland for the Jewish population in Palestine. The documents that announced Britian's declaration to finally create a Jewish homeland were the Churchill White Paper and the Mandate of Palestine, which also divided the British zone the Mandate System had given it. Churchill White Paper The intention of the document was to finally create a Jewish homeland in Palestine as previously promised in the Balfour Declaration. The Mandate 0f Palestine A document created by British government in 1922Divided the British Mandate and occupation zone created by Article 22 of the League of Nations Covenant in 1920Land west of the Jordan River became Palestine which was also the Jewish homeland promised in the Balfour Declaration and the Churchill White Paper Palestine was under direct British administrationLand to the east of Jordan River became a semi-autonomous region called TransjordanTransjordan was ruled by the Hashemite family from the Hijaz The Map of the Mandate of Palestine The Mandate System in the Interwar and Postwar Periods Sanremo Conference An international meeting held after WWI and the Treaty of Versailles to determine the boundaries for the Class A Mandates which were in the territory of the former Ottoman Empire. The boundaries were set with Britain gaining part of the Middle East as an occupation zone and France receiving another large chunk. The Treaty of Sèvres was approved at this conference. The treaty officially abolished the Ottoman Empire and forced the new nation of Turkey to renounce rights over Arab Asia and North Africa, make Armenia independent, allow an autonomous Kurdistan and a Greek presence in the eastern Thrace and on the Anatolian west coast plus Greek control over the Aegean Islands which would command the Dardanelles. According to Article 22 the Class A Mandates established at this conference were considered independent, but they were subject to a mandatory occupying power which held some control until the state reached complete political maturity. However, the occupying countries of Britain and France were not obligated to help the countries in any way develop and industrialize or reach political maturity per Article 22. Said the Jewish community in Palestine could increase its numbers through immigrationExplained tensions in Palestine arose from Arab population exaggerating the meaning of Jewish homeland given in Balfour Explained why it took so long for the British government to uphold its promise in the Balfour and cleared up conflicting claims from the McMahon-Balfour-Sykes-Picot fiasco Mandate of Palestine was ultimately more important Conflicts between Arabs and Jews remained unresolved. Big Idea #3 Western Europeans, mainly the British and French, continued to interfere in the Middle Eastern World. The British tried to monopolize the oil industry in Iraq which started a trend still seen today of getting raw materials, mainly oil, from Middle Eastern countries. The British also exerted administrative control over Palestine and the French over Lebanon and Syria. The West thought it was okay to interfere in Middle Eastern nations, because the Middle East did not effectively oppose their occupiers. It became common for Westerners to exhibit superiority over this region. Independence Most of the Class A Mandates were developing at the time of the Sanremo Conference so they gained independence from the British and French occupiers fairly quickly Syria remained a French mandate the longest, not gaining its freedom until 1946Palestine was occupied by the British until 1948 when Israel declared itself a country independent from the Mandate of Palestine Date of Independence for all Mandates can be seen on the map Additional Modern Issues Caused by Mandate System Palestinian StatehoodPalestinian representation in United NationsCurrent status of Palestinian Liberation Group Arab-Israeli ConflictArab Spring Bibliogrpahy Map of European Controlled Middle East MacDonald White Paper of 1939 Most importantly said that since 450,000 Jews had immigrated to Palestine, so the Balfour Declaration had been metCalled for an independent Palestine established within 10 years governed jointly by the Arabs and Jews without conflictSaid Jewish immigration to Palestine would be limited to 75,000 people over the next 5 years, a quota systemAfter 5 years continued Jewish immigration would be only with Arab consent Issued at a time when Jewish immigration to Palestine had reached an all time high Effects of MacDonald White Paper of 1939 Issued at a time when many Jews wanted to flee Germany and the Nazi Party, but now they couldn't because of quota systemWhen German, Polish or other eastern European Jews reached Palestine they were turned away if quotas for the year had been metZionists organized illegal migrations to Palestine which were stopped by British Naval blockadesConditions of paper were opposed by both the Jews and ArabsMany people, Arabs, Jews and some British legislators, disputed it because it contradicted Balfour Declaration which never specified how many Jews could immigrate to Palestine Jewish Immigration to Palestine End of the Mandate System Mandate System of Middle East created by the League of Nations technically ended when the League of Nations was dissolved in 1946 following WWII and the impending establishment of the United NationsBut, occupying forces in the Middle East because of Mandate System did not leave until 1948 when Israel declared themselves independent and British forces left PalestineAll Class A territories were sovereign states when the United Nations was created but some Class B and C areas created by the Mandate System were not yet independent and these states were made UN trusteeships